Apple

I am an avid RCS supporter and have been for years, but I don’t think Apple need to open up the whole app.

Apple does not have any real lock in for messaging apps, people can add their own to the App Store easily, there are no rules against this. WhatsApp has existed and been the primary messaging for many for a decade and Apple hasn’t ever tried to kill it.

For legitimate security reasons does not allow other apps to takeover SMS/MMS etc. I am over the moon Apple will finally allow real interoperability between platforms, that was the issue and it will be fixed, no need to bloat it.

I think Apple should make a MessageKit framework (or something like that) to enable apps the ability to essentially replace the messages app.

So 3rd party sms apps like android? I can see why some people might like that but also why apple wouldn't. Walled garden and all that stuff, they'd never make this an API

Which is the whole point of a standard, so good. Just like how Nintendo butchered the USBC implementation in the docks, anyone with shit implementations deserves to be shit on.

There won't be compatibility issues. Google's RCS service also uses Universal Profile, as it has to communicate with carrier implementations.

The only issue is you won't get E2EE, but the RCS message will work.

I understand why that seems savvy but most Apple customers wouldn’t care that it’s not technically Apples fault, they buy Apple in part because things tend to just work.

But Google has their own version. Why would they be to blame?

That’s literally how standards are supposed to work. Nothing tricky about it.

But, this also means that the universal profile will win and any issues with it will get better. Google, the carriers and likely all other Android OEMs are going to scramble to make it as good as it can be. They will make sure group chats don’t break, that videos and pictures are sent in decent quality. Make sure that things like reactions, typing indicators, etc work.

Apple has picked a side and like with so many other standards, I think everyone else will bend to follow suit. If there are problems at launch with certain Android phones, the first one that works seamlessly will get a leg up.

Apple is the 800lb gorilla in the space and what they do, others will follow. This is a good outcome. It might not be great at launch, but give it a year or two and it will shake out.

RCS bubbles will be pink with red text.

From the EU perspective iMessage does not even qualify as having enough regular users

new iPhone 16 feature confirmed? /hj

Google doesn't own RCS though. Why would it be up to them?

even for newer Samsung devices, Google Messages replaced Samsung Messages as the default messaging app.

There's nothing stopping Apple from implementing Universal Profile RCS tomorrow, except for their development time. There's nothing to lobby the GSMA for, it already works.

Now the E2E encryption piece is another matter. Note that's not committed to coming before 2024 - just standard RCS is.

Just as long as I don’t get the text version when a green bubble person “likes” my message, I’m happy.

I mean for sensible human beings who are able to look past the colour of a digital bubble, this change breaks a lot of barriers for people who have iphones due to complications of texting with SMS. Those complications will no longer exist and there would be less incentive to stick with Iphones unless they are buried in the ecosystem.

If there are no downsides then why did the EU have to strongarm them into doing it?

No downside for Apple users. There’s some downside to Apple because it reduces lock in.

In a q and a a reporter even asked Apple a question about this directly

But the person who asked the question, Vox Media’s LiQuan Hunt, came back with a valid complaint, saying that his mother can’t see the videos he sends her. It all comes down to a lack of interoperability between iMessage and RCS, both messaging systems that could allow higher-quality images and videos — if they worked together. If you’ve tried to send a video from Android to iOS (or vice versa) using your regular text messaging app, then you know that your videos come out completely fuzzy on the other end. Cook’s suggestion to fix this annoying issue? “Buy your mom an iPhone.”

I mean having AirPlay/shareplay features in RCS texting isn’t what people are asking for. It’s functional cross-platform group texts, read receipts, full sized media sharing, and other basic features that RCS hopes to bring to all smartphones.

Wow you're so cool 🙄

You know you're the only one that sees the green bubble, not the android user, right?

Given a large part of the GSMA are gov agencies or carriers that are under gov pressure and subject to well established wire tapping requirements I would be very surprised if encryption is adopted. It was proposed during the original spec and refused and again more recently refused.

The US is not a government. It's a global corporation backed by a violent military. The EU for all it's trouble dies try to be reasonable.